Overrated Games

Just some video games that I think are just overrated.

I'm a big video game fan, like most of you here. I'm familiar with all the generations of game consoles from the beginning with Atari and Colecovision, to the new generation with the Wii and the XBox 360. However, there are some games and gaming franchises that I think people have been making way too much of a fuss over. In other words, I think the games are very overrated. I'm not particularly saying that I don't like these games, I'm just saying that I don't understand what the big deal about them is.

Super MetroidThis game, I believe, is a good place to start. I've been hearing people from all sorts of sources say that "Super Metroid" is the best Metroid game ever, the best game ever on the Super Nintendo, and even the best video game of all time. On Screwattack's Top 10 Lists, this game made #1 on the list of Top 10 "Super" games, and also #1 on the list of Top 20 SNES games. Even Electronic Gaming Monthly put this game at #1 on their list of Top 100 Video Games of all time. Having played it once, I really don't see what's so great about it. The whole game is just boring (IMHO). The whole game takes place in one area; there are no levels to progress to or anything, and you just go around collecting things and battling monsters. I don't really see what's so special about this game. Well, I could say a few good things about it. The music is awesome, the graphics are pretty good, the control is decent, but the overall gameplay just doesn't cut it for me. I guess this is what I get for not being a hard core Metroid fan.

Street Fighter IIHere's another game that I didn't quite get what the fuss was all about. I think I remember, I was in second grade when this game came out. I remember one time in school, we had a class activity to list a few things we'd like for Christmas. The four most popular items were Pool Table, Sega, Super NES, and "Street Fighter II". When I looked at those, I always thought, "What the heck is a Street Fighter II?" It took me a few days to realize it was a video game for a game console I didn't own. "Street Fighter II" is said to be one of the most influential games of all time. Some say it set the standards for fighting games, which it may have, but I still don't see anything too special about it; I mean, a fighting game is a fighting game. I do happen to be a big fan of fighting games, but I'm not as familiar with the Street Fighter series as most people are. It doesn't help much that there are like a million different games in the series and like 10 versions of each one. It gets really confusing, and it's so easy to lose track of these games. Okay, I should probably shut up now before I start quoting the Angry Video Game Nerd again!

Zero WingHow can this game be overrated? Well, let me give you a little background story on it. This was a game for the Sega Genesis. However, this is also considered to be one of the worst video games ever made. The main thing that makes this game bad is the poor grammar. I heard that the reason the grammar is so bad is that after the game was released in Japan, the guy who was translating it probably didn't know any English and used a dictionary or something to translate it. I have nothing against the Japanese, but if you're going to make a game and ship it to the U.S., either translate it properly or don't ship it here at all. Now, why do I say this game is overrated? Well, if you've been surfing the Internet for these past seven or so years, you'll know why. This game has been parodied and poked fun at numerous times. You can find Zero Wing parodies all over YouTube and Newgrounds (like having the dialogue remixed to fit Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"). If I had a nickel for every time I heard "All your base are belong to us", you'd have no idea how rich I'd be!

Madden NFLMost video game geeks I know are really big fans of sports games. This series, in particular, happens to be one of the biggest sports game franchises out there. Maybe if I actually played the game, I'd understand what makes it so great, but since I'm not into sports games, and I know like nothing about how football is supposed to work, I should just leave it alone. I'm afraid to say that it's probably a lot easier to play sports in real life than on a video game; then again, in real life, you'll have to deal with the pain, and it doesn't do you any good if you're out of shape. There's some advice for your kids: If they play too much sports-related video games, you should tell them to play some REAL sports!

Legend of Zelda: Majora's MaskA lot of Zelda fans have been raving about this game. Most say that "Ocarina of Time" is the best Zelda game ever (which I could agree with), and some say "Link to the Past" is, but there are also some that say "Majora's Mask" is the best Zelda game ever. How can this game be so great? This game took everything we loved about the Zelda games and took out most of it. You're playing Link in some world other than Hyrule, there's no Princess Zelda to save, you're a short dude with this weird-looking mask on your face, and your method of attack is whirling around hitting enemies with your hat. Does that sound like a quintessential Zelda game to you? I don't think so. Not to mention this game only gives you 72 hours to beat it, so what's the point? I don't think I've ever played a game with a time limit since the 16-bit era. I guess I should look on the bright side: if this game was never made, we probably wouldn't have some things that we do now.

Guitar HeroHere's a recent series of games that has gone off the scale in popularity. Heck, three games came out in less than a year! I'm not sure which is more confusing, this or DDR. Whatever. I guess game designers were trying to get gamers to become rock stars and shred some guitar licks by making this game, and it worked. A neat thing about this game is it introduced a new gaming peripheral: the guitar. I have friends who take their "Guitar Hero" guitars with them everywhere they go. If you haven't played any of the "Guitar Hero" games yet, then let me warn you of something. It's a lot harder than it looks, and playing a real guitar is even harder! The point I'm trying to make here is I think it's silly that they're making these games at such a fast pace.

HaloOkay, now I've reached probably the most overrated game series of all time, "Halo". People have been going on and on and on about how awesome this game is, but I don't see what's so awesome about it. It's just a first person shooter game. Back in the mid and late 90's, I thought first person shooters were cool, but today, they just put me to sleep. It's like, I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, the lighting is so dark I can't see a molecule of anything in front of my face, and it's so easy to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Playing against people in these games is a real pain too if you have the same problems I have with these games. There must be something significant about Halo that makes it stand out among the other first person shooters. The question is, what is it?

In conclusion, I just felt like sharing with you my thoughts on these overrated game series'. I just want to know what is it about them that makes them so good. Just telling me, "It's awesome!" is no excuse. Sorry if I sounded like a bit of a douchebag, but I hope you all respect my opinion. I hope this was at least a decent article, and most importantly, I hope I'm not just making a fool out of myself again.

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i might agree a few of the games like Halo Franchises and Guitar Hero series, but why would consider peoples favorite games as overrated such as Super Metroid, Legend of Zelda: Majora's mask and even Street Fighter II? because to be honest, i like most of theses games, especially SFII which made me become an fighting games fan.

i can find FIFA franchises and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 to be even more overrated than the ones you choose.

but oh well, i guess it's only your opinion so i'm not going to bash it.

"It's like, I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, the lighting is so dark I can't see a molecule of anything in front of my face,"

Maybe you should turn the contrast up on your TV, it's not THAT dark, even in the dark parts.

"and it's so easy to do the wrong thing at the wrong time."

I don't know what game you are playing but it's definetly not Halo, there's either only one way (other than backwards) or there are markers on your HUD.

I will admit that Halo online is kinda bad, with people who are too good or WAY to horrible, but the overall story is a breath of fresh air, at least in 2001, and I guess I'm also in the minority who enjoyed the sequels and didn't mind the cliffhanger ending.

i'll start with street fighter II. this game basically broke the mold on what would soon be the fighting game genre. everyone's jaw dropped as they saw the game in action, and seeing the game inspired a few other game companies to make fighting games of their own.

super metroid is NOT overrated, because not that many people have gotten a chance to play it. and it does NOT take place in only one area. you have both zebes and crateria, so there you go.

as for majora's mask, you haven't played enough of it to get through the beginning. you become yourself again, and you can become the deku with the option of putting on a mask, but later on in the game you can be a goron and a zora.

as for the other games i listed, i haven't played them at all so i can't state my opinion on them

"You're playing Link in some world other than Hyrule, there's no Princess Zelda to save, you're a short dude with this weird-looking mask on your face, and your method of attack is whirling around hitting enemies with your hat. Does that sound like a quintessential Zelda game to you? I don't think so."

So, how long did you play Majora's Mask? Was it five minutes or six minutes?

I am wiling to explain to you and all other people, what a "good game" really means.

When you get a new game that came out THAT year, weather it's popular or something barely anybody knows about, you usually might get addicted to it and create good memories with it. However over time New games and New consoles are released years later. Lots of people now a days care ONLY! about the new style of entertainment in video games, but they have to identify it more closely. Yes we do love the new games now a days, but some of those people don't have any sense of Nostalgia. In a way they seem kind of like a "tool". Then you think about that game you played 10 years ago, and you forgot why you liked it so much. So when you play that game again, it seems like a much better experience when you play them the first time.

[Summarization]: A "good game" is a video game that you would play despite the newer better games.

And this goes for every thing else, movies, TV shows If we didn't have nostalgic people, we wouldn't even have this site.

I know this is kind of Unrelenting to the topic, but even though those games are overrated in a way, a lot of people are going to not care about them anymore (for a time). So if you're playing a game that's really popular, play it again when its Obsolete.

As far as series are concerned, the Halo series is overrated. The original Halo is great. The other 2 are sufficient, but not mind-blowing. Madden NFL, couldn't agree more. You didn't really explain why Guitar Hero is overrated. I never played Majora's Mask so no comment. Street Fighter is not special by today's standards but it did revolutionize the fighting game genre. In that sense, it's not overrated.

The only true disagreement I have is with Super Metroid. I'm biased though as that is one of my favorite games.

Overall the article is just OK. When you focus on the games, everything is copasetic. However, your intro and conclusion leave much to be desired.

Well I couldnt disagree with alot of your choices anymore. I personally beleave Ocarina of Time was more overrated then Majora's mask. Also I think The Metroid prime series has more popularity then Super Metroid, I mean Super metroid is an all time classic but its not overrated. Sorry but theses were really pure choices for an article. The only ones I would agree with are.

Your article is very, very good. I couldn't agree more with Halo as the most overrated game. I think that Timesplitters is a much better FPS that came out around the same time. Halo is an important game because it was the greatest and most successful Xbox title.

I will also agree with a few of your other selections, namely Guitar Hero and Madden. Guitar Hero, as well as Rock Band, is a huge gold mine for the developers since those games are so expensive, which is why they can churn so many out in such sort time periods. Madden, I've never liked, and always felt that there were better NFL football video games, the last competitor to Madden ESPN NFL Football 2K5 is the only football video game I play

My main objection was to the Majora's Mask summary. You didn't talk about most of the game - only the part at the beginning. It sounds like you maybe played it for a few days, were disappointed, and walked away from it. The game got a lot better. You just had to stick with it.

For instance, the time traveling thing was even more prominent in this one - instead of traveling between 10 year old Link and 17 year old Link, you had to time travel at the end of every three days. Like Groundhog's Day, events would repeat on the same schedule, and you could trigger different events by using different masks - 30 of them, total. The Zora, Deku, and Goron masks allowed you to actually change into those creatures, and with each one, you got a different instrument to play the music on - horns, a guitar, and drums. The other masks gave Link different abilities, and also got reactions from the full cast of townspeople - much like the masks in Ocarina of Time, which were one of my favorite parts of that game.

Ultimately, I, like many other gamers, and EGM, think Ocarina was better, but this is still a great and inventive game, and is worth a second look if you gave up on it too quickly and your N64 still works.

The reason a lot of people enjoy Majora's Mask, myself included is that the townsfolk actually had personalities and people could connect with them. Some of the things were much more challenging in the game than any other Zelda game.

My first reaction to your article was one of disbelief. How could anybody hate on my some of my favorite games like this? After thinking again about most of what you wrote, I think I understand where you are coming from. If somebody were to pick up these games today, the joy I experienced would not shine through. What made most of these games "great" was how they innovated the whole video game culture at their time. If you don't know what made these games classics, they would probably be seen as so-so games because all the games after them which copied their format and tried to improve in some way on what they did first. I'll try to explain a few of the reasons why these games are loved.

Super Metroid - the first Metroid game was so well loved and when this came out, people were astonished how it actually improved the graphics and fun level of the game

Street Fighter II - Before this game, there was no "typical" fighting game. Mortal Kombat came later and provided some competition, but before this game, the fighter wasn't established. The special moves you could do (even young gamers can do Chun Li's special kick or E. Honda's slap attack or Blanka's electrocution) and the characters made it memorable for anybody who played it when it came out. It allowed people to compete head-to-head for one of the first times as well.

Madden NFL - I have grown to hate this franchise, but for completely different reasons than you do. I can't stand EA charging $50 to people 15 years in a row for a game that doesn't change very much. When it started, it was the most realistic football game on the market. It let the player feel like they were actually controlling a football team. Now it has gotten too realistic for me. I'm not a football coach, and I don't want to pick plays to run as if I were a coach.

Majora's Mask - I didn't play the game (my brother did), but I don't feel confident relating why people loved the game because I didn't go through the experience

Halo - GoldenEye allowed people to "kill" their friends in the most fun ways for people who didn't play FPS games on their PCs. When Halo came around, it brought the innovations PC games had developed to the consoles, which meant it was the first time most people experienced these upgrades. Aside from that, Master Chief quickly became my favorite video game character because of the way he handled situations with a calm humor and the ability to picture yourself as him, bringing the blur of realities to a new level (due to the camera angle being through his eyes, and the mysterious features of the man in full armor and helmet without facial features).

Are these games overrated? Probably, if you were to play them today for the first time. But when they came out, they made such an impression and brought a level of joy that so many gamers today continue to compare new games to those they have identified with. The rating these games have is based on how much fun they brought to gamers when they came out, and don't compensate for the passage of time. My first thought was a definite "thumbs down", but I've changed my mind to a definite "no vote".

When it comes to Street Fighter II, unless you were in the thick of it when it first came out, then you just don't know or understand the impact it had or how revolutionary it was for its time. Like all things, looking back on it and comparing it to what has come after makes it pale in comparison...but it is pretty much the game that made the other fighting games you love so much possible in the first place. You will get no love from anybody when when you try to remove its much deserved praise.

As for Guitar Hero, until you actually play it a couple of times, you probably don't realize how addicting and fun it is. It's a very simple premise...which is a lost art in today's era. In the old days, we had a lot of simple games (Tetris, Pac-Man, etc.), but there aren't many these days. Guitar Hero shines because it's basically the old "Simon" game jazzed up to make you feel like a rock & roll superstar. And there's nothing wrong with that.

And yeah, playing real guitar is harder than playing Guitar Hero. Nobody said it wasn't. Just like flying a real plane is harder than playing Microsoft's Flight Simulator and managing a city's budget is harder than it is in Sim City. Games are supposed to be easy and fun...not a reflection of how hard things are in real life.

goddamn dude, i can understand some games are a bit frustrating to you, but come on, you need a hell of a lot of patience to play most of these games, metroid being number one... and even though i haven't played halo, just watching its gameplay makes my jaw drop, and every one else's

I don't get what you mean by Super Metroid "only takes place in one area". 99% of the game takes place on Zebes, Ok, but by no means is there only just "one area". You have Crateria, the rocky surface of the planet; Brinstar, the somewhat rocky somewhat planty cavern a little ways below the surface; the Wrecked Ship, an aged ship that crashed long ago into Crateria; Maridia, a massive underwater ocean next to Brinstar where the Space Pirates have built some facilities (mostly to hold the failed cloning experiments of Metroids); Norfair, a hot, volcanic area deep under Brinstar and Maridia, and far below Crateria; and Tourian, the rebuilt base of operations on Zebes where the organic supercomputer Mother Brain resides.

So you can't tell me that Super Metroid is just one area. And the modern Metroid series owes a lot from Super Metroid. Anything and everything you see in Fusion and the Prime series owes itself to Super Metroid.

DL, good article and it took some balls to come out and give your opinion on some sacred games. However, I can say that Street Fighter II was special for me because the graphics, game mechanics, and playing with 8 other friends crammed around an arcade or SNES was awesome. Yeah, it isnt as "bad-ass" as games today but back then it kicked some real butt. With Super Metroid, again, the technology blew many of us away. It was a far better pick compared to many of the games that existed at that time. The sound was amazing, the bosses kicked butt, and the graphics and fun associated with Super Metroid RULED! Then you have Madden, which was always cutting-edge. I cannot count how many games of Madden kept me and my friends up which carried into my college years. It was fun to play teams that you loved, control football players you liked, draft people, and build teams. Madden is an amazing franchise, unfortunately, EA has taken the contracts from NFL and Players association that prevents competition.

I cannot speak for your other games....but MADDEN, STREET FIGHTER II, and Super Metroid were amazing....thats my opinion, and I respect yours.

Madden, Halo, and Guitar Hero I can agree with, but... um, this may be my thirteen-year-old self talking, but your description of Majora's Mask was quite pathetic, I think it's obvious you haven't played the game much. Only the BEGINNING had you being stuck as a Deku, and once you get past it, you could put the mask back on and turn back into one! As for the 3 day time limit, you can TURN BACK TIME back to the first day, so in a way, yes you have 72 hours to beat it, but that doesn't exactly mean you have to finish the WHOLE game within the time!

Other than that... eh, it was an alright article. I'm sure certain Street Fighter II fans aren't going to take kindly to your SFII paragraph, though.